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NEXT TAOS STUDY TO FOCUS ON THOSE WHO HEAR HUM
by Deborah Baker, Associated Press
Denver Post, 25 August 1993
Santa Fe. An investigation found no source for the
mysterious Taos hum -- a low-frequency sound only some
people can hear -- so scientists are turning their attention
to those who hear it.
"We're all so very disappointed. We hoped we could help
these people," said Horace Poteet, a scientist at Sandia
National Laboratories and a hum-hearer himself.
A team of scientists and engineers reported Monday that
sensitive instruments failed to reveal the source of the
noise.
The hum has been the object of complaints in the Taos, NM
area since 1991, and the city of Albuquerque investigated
similar complaints in 1989, the report said.
Most hearers say the noise begins abruptly, never abates,
interferes with sleep and is more noticeable inside a house
or car than outside. Some describe it as sounding like a
diesel engine idling in the distance.
Some hearers ascribe other health problems to it, including
dizziness, headaches and nosebleeds.
After publicity about the phenomenon in New Mexico, about
100 hum-hearers called the investigators or Taos residents
with similar complaints from Taiwan, most western U.S.
states, Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont, Massachusetts, New
York and Maryland, the report said.
British reseachers have been studying low-frequency sounds
and vibrations since the 1970s, and government agencies get
about 500 complaints a year about mysterious hums, according
to the report.
As a next step, the informal New Mexico investigative team
wants to test Taos-area residents who are bothered by the
noise.
"Our aim is to understand why some people hear this, and
others not, in the same environment," said James Kelly, a
hearing specialist at the University of New Mexico.
The team's investigation raised questions about
electromagnetic fields, according to the report.
"It was apparant that stray (electromagnetic) fields along
the ground were quite strong, even well away from any power
lines," the report said.
There was nothing conclusive linking them to the hum. But
the scientists also said they couldn't eliminate the
possibility that some people are unusually sensitive to the
growing volume of electromagnetic noise from electric
gadgets, microwave communications and cordless phones.
"Whether that's the cause of the hum, we don't know, but we
can't write it off," said Joe Mullins, chairman of the
University of New Mexico's mechanical engineering department
and the team's leader.
Another likely candidate, says Kelly, is otoacoustic
emissions -- sounds produced in the ear itself.